Innocent Elmo

Your body is an incredibly bizarre machine.

Good Morning!

Dear mugs-it-is,

The same thing we did before the election. We fight. 

There is no one way to fight, because all of us who opposed this president-elect are very different — that’s part of what makes us who we are. For some people, fighting will mean supporting marginalized friends and strangers if policy moves to threaten them. For others, it will mean forming activist groups to amplify voices that may be stifled and to address harmful voices that might arise. For still others, it will merely mean being brave enough to move past paralyzing anxiety. Some fight by continuing to create, some fight by keeping their eyes open for optimism. Some will fight loudly, some will fight quietly.  The fight isn’t really about politics. It’s just about equality. We fight by being human as loud and as hard as we can.

For all of us, I hope we all remember to be individuals and to not give in to fear. I hope we remember that you cannot fight bigotry without love. And I hope — as we realize that nearly fifty percent of the country is seeing the world in a different way from us — that we remember that the goal is not to fight people who hate, it is to vanquish the hate inside them. 

I’ve been around long enough to see people slowly take their fisted hands from their pockets and stretch those hands across the aisle to people they previously didn’t understand. I believe that we can scale that shit up and get a lot of hands stretched to us if we grin and snap and snarl our way bravely into 2017. 

Remember that this election didn’t really change the way this country was. It just dragged the issues out into the light, and honestly, we needed that to happen one way or another. This isn’t what I wanted, but — Let’s see if we can take the opportunity to make this fraught and terrible conversation end with a joyful exclamation point in four years.

urs,

1.    The Constant Victim - This kind of individual will always finds a way to end up as a victim in their relationships.

2.    One-Upmanship Expert – This person uses put downs, snide remarks and criticisms, to show that they’re superior, and know much more than you.

3.    Powerful Dependents – They hide behind the mask of being weak and powerless – then use their helplessness to dominate relationships. That is, they send the subtle message “you must not let me down.”

4.    Triangulators – This person tries to get other people on their side. They’re quick to put you down, and to say some nasty things. They separate good friends or drive a wedge in families.

5.    The Blasters – They blast you with their anger or they blow up suddenly. That stops you asking questions - in case there’s a showdown.

6.    The Projector – This person thinks they’re perfect and others have the flaws. They take no ownership – because they’re never, ever wrong.  

7.    The Deliberate Mis-Interpreter – They seem like a nice person – but they twist and use your words. They spread misinformation and misinterpret you. Thus, they deliberately present you in a false, negative way.

8.    The Flirt – This person uses flirting to get their way in life. They want to be admired and to have an audience. However, your feelings and your needs are of no concern to them.

9.    The Iron Fist – They use intimidation and throw their weight around, to use you for their ends, and to get their way in life.

“There has never been a sadness that can’t be cured by breakfast food”. 

Amen to that Swanson.